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Thought for the Day – Refuge

November 17, 2015 by bjcorbin

A safe place to recover one’s strength, and/or to regain one’s perspective, and/or to make a plan, would rightfully be considered a “refuge”.  A place to avoid one’s problems and/or responsibilities, would more accurately be referred to as a “hideout”.  In athletic terms, it is the difference between a timeout and a forfeit.

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Thought for the Day – The Best of Both Worlds

November 16, 2015 by bjcorbin

I’ve heard it said that the person who tries to make the best of both worlds generally makes nothing of either of them; and I have found this to be true. At some point, a man has to take a stand for something, and then be strong enough to walk through the implications of that commitment.

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Veteran’s Day Speech

November 10, 2015 by bjcorbin

My 16 year old son is involved in the Corps of Cadets program at his high school, which is like a Junior ROTC program.  And he was picked to give a speech at the school’s annual Veteran’s Day assembly.  These are the words he’s chosen to say.

 

Veteran’s Day Speech

By Patrick Corbin

 

I’d personally like to welcome everyone to today’s Veterans Day program.  It’s a huge honor for me to represent our school, and the Corps. of Cadets, on this special occasion.  We are especially grateful for today’s honored guests, the men and women of our armed forces.  It is through their valor, and sacrifice, that we are able to gather here today.

 

I come from a family with a tradition of service to their country.  My Grandfather (Tom) was on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for 26 years.  His brother (Jim) was on active duty in the U.S. Marines for over 27 years.  Both were Vietnam War veterans.  Then my father and his brother joined the U.S. Navy together after high school.  My Dad spent 8 years on submarines, 4 years with the Seabees, and was a Persian Gulf War veteran.  My Uncle Kevin served for 6 years, and was on the aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise.  My cousin Ben was an Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, and my cousin Nick was a Guardsman who served in Iraq.  I am proud to be a part of a family who believes in sacrificing for the good of others.  I think that we all should serve our families, our neighbors, and our country.  We have been blessed because all of our family members have returned home, but I think that we should give special honor to all of the families whose loved ones didn’t make it back.  We often make the rich and famous out to be heroes, but these veterans are the real heroes.  One day, I hope I can be a part of this family tradition by serving my country.

 

Today, I’ve been asked to give a brief history on the origins of Veteran’s Day.  The recognition of this day dates back to the end of World War I, when the “armistice” was signed on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month (i.e. November 11th, 1918).  A year later, the President declared a moment of silence on November 11th, in remembrance of this event, and it went on to become an annual tradition.  In 1938, congress declared “Armistice Day” to be a legal holiday.  This tradition continued until after World War II, when a man named Raymond Weeks suggested that the day should honor all veterans, and not just those from the First World War.  In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law, and “Armistice Day” officially became “Veteran’s Day”.

 

Though I am grateful for this day of special recognition, I believe that it is important to understand that for many veterans the struggle goes on every day.  There are those who’ve suffered physical wounds that left their bodies broken, and there are those who’ve suffered wounds to their hearts and minds, that left their souls and spirits broken.  For them, the battle continues.  Sadly, even those without significant disabilities often struggle to find jobs, or to collect the benefits that they’ve earned.  This should not be so.  While I will gratefully join in with today’s celebration, we need to show our appreciation for Veterans by championing their causes throughout the year.  We need to demand more of our elected officials when it comes to protecting the rights of our service members.

 

As I told you previously, my grandfather and his brother were Vietnam War veterans, and I was sickened to hear stories of how those men and women were treated when they returned from the war.  Because of the politics at that time, people treated these veterans like villains.  Some were even spit on, and called, “Baby Killers”.  That is inexcusable!  No matter the war, no matter the reasons for it, no matter how popular it is at home, our soldiers should never be treated this way again.  These people willingly put their lives on the line for others, and will always be worthy of our gratitude and honor.

 

My Sergeant told me that Veteran’s Day is like Christmas for our armed forces; and that while they don’t receive presents, they do receive the gift of love and appreciation from their country.  My hope and prayer is that our veterans would experience that gift wherever they go today.  And my challenge to my fellow students, and those within our community, is to find a way to be a part of it.  I just did.  Thank you.

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5 Things Which Are Way Over-Valued in Our Culture

November 5, 2015 by bjcorbin

 

  1. Convenience – Our culture is absolutely obsessed with making everything fast, easy, and achievable with the touch of a button.  We have an “app” for just about anything you can think of, and a huge amount of an average person’s life is channeled through their electronic devices.  But with every advance in this direction, we become less tolerant of things that require any sort of sustained effort on our part, or things that take time.  We also become more dependent on the technology for even the most basic of functions.  Given the fact that life is a long journey, which requires genuine determination, perseverance and patience, this trend doesn’t bode well for our future.
  2. Sex – Without a doubt, sex is meant to be one of life’s great pleasures, but just as doubtless, there is a context within which it was meant to fit in our lives.  In the decades since the “Sexual Revolution” began, our culture has found ways to inject sex into all sorts of settings, circumstances, and contexts where it doesn’t belong.  This has not only resulted in confusion and dysfunction, for many it has reduced sex to nothing more than a bodily function.  That’s sad, because it was intended to be so much more.
  3. Stardom – The insatiable craving for notoriety within our culture continues to fill our screens (both large and small) with images of people willing to eat bugs, wife swap, gender swap, submit themselves to tortuous circumstances, fix bad tattoos, torment their kid on the pageant circuit, wrestle alligators/snapping turtles/wolverines, bully their wedding planner, search for bigfoot…  And all of this has created a new breed of star that includes people like the “Reality TV Star”, and the “You-Tube Star”.  Most of these folks are not known for a specific talent, or some meaningful contribution to society, they’re simply famous for being famous (e.g. the Kardashians); which somehow manages to take the superficiality of “fame and fortune” to a whole new level.
  4. SWAG – Though the exact meaning of this term continues to evolve, it comes from the word “swagger”.  And it refers to a person’s attitude, self-image, and self-confidence.  Sadly, for the emerging generation, this confidence doesn’t necessarily need to be rooted in any sort of reality.  With a steady diet of trash talk, and brash posturing, one’s “SWAG” is often just an alter-ego (i.e. the person they wish they were or imagine they will become), and ultimately how they choose to market themselves to the world.  In such cases, life has a way of reducing these facades to rubble (e.g. OJ Simpson, Allen Iverson, Tiger Woods, Lindsay Lohan…).
  5. Self – This is the age of the “Selfie”, where people spend countless hours each day broadcasting their “status”, their reactions, their opinions, pictures of themselves, pictures of their food, videos of themselves…  And while a certain amount of that can be relatively harmless, the cumulative effect is that it keeps most people focused on themselves, and on what everyone else is thinking & saying.  Ultimately, the most miserable life that one can lead is one that is all about themselves.

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Thought for the Day – Weak Willed

November 1, 2015 by bjcorbin

A chameleon doesn’t expend much energy in changing its colors, just as a weak willed man effortlessly falls in step with the crowd.  For both it is simply a reflex of their nature.  But it takes a person of courage, strength and character to make a stand for wisdom and truth.

 

As Alexander Hamilton said, the person who stands for nothing is likely to fall for anything.  And if you live long enough, you learn that not everyone who agrees with you is for you, and not everyone who disagrees with you is against you.

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Thought for the Day – Boldness

October 26, 2015 by bjcorbin

In times of turmoil there is often a renewed cry for “boldness” within the church, but what that means isn’t always clear.  I would submit that instead of boldly proclaiming the gospel, we need to be boldly living it; and instead of boldly standing for Christ, we ought to be boldly standing in Him.  After all, it is Christ “in us” that is the hope of glory.

 

We have no hope of convincing the world of the truth of our principles if we ourselves don’t believe in them enough to live by them.

 

Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Social / Political, Thought for the Day / Quotes | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Thought for the Day – Non Linear

October 19, 2015 by bjcorbin

As I prepare to spend another night on a hospital room couch, I must admit that this isn’t how I envisioned my weekend playing out.   Yesterday’s game was going well, both Patrick & AJ were making plays, and we were winning.  But then, on a fairly simple looking tackle, Pat came up clutching his arm, and even from the stands you could see that his forearm was badly broken.

 

Even then, I thought we’d spend some hours in the Emergency Room, and be home in time for dinner.  I wasn’t counting on the fact that his arm wouldn’t reset, or that they’d keep him for surgery, or that he’d need a second surgery.  But isn’t that how life goes.   We can make our plans and try to prepare, but the days unfold on their own terms.

 

Our society seems to perpetuate the myth that if you’re smart & proactive, you can avoid all the potholes in the road; and that if you’re a conscientious  parent, you’ll be able to protect your kids from all harm.  But the truth is that sometimes, despite our best efforts, difficult things happen.  Life is anything but a linear equation.  Though we like to think of it as a classroom, it’s a lot more like a football field, where adversity can rise up without warning.

 

Though we aspire to carve out an existence filled with glorious highlights, it is how we respond in those difficult moments that ultimately defines us.  We can get angry, or become frustrated, or live in denial, but that only increases the struggle.  Even in times of  profound trouble, there is beauty, and meaning, and life to be mined.

 

In the last 36 hours, we’ve watched our kids have both highlights and crushing moments on the field.  We’ve had people rally around us and have suffered unexpected setbacks.  But tonight, as my head rests on the hard vinyl of a hospital couch, I find myself feeling grateful.

 

Grateful for my amazingly strong son, who was more worried about letting his team down than the seriousness of his injury; who insisted on sending out a video to let friends and family know that he is OK; and who, in a drug induced state, felt the need to thank all the doctors & nurses for their good work.

 

Grateful for the family, friends, church, school, and community that have been so loving and supportive.  Thankful for teammates & coaches & youth pastors & dear friends who came to see Pat; and for all the great care he’s received from the staff at the hospital.  More than anything, I am grateful for Gods nearness, especially in times of trouble.  In the non-linear equation that life can be, He is the variable that makes it all work.

 

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Thought for the Day – Purity

October 8, 2015 by bjcorbin

Purity is forged in the fire of adversity.

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Thought for the Day – The Prototype

October 7, 2015 by bjcorbin

I’ve heard many people use the first century church (described in the book of Acts) as the model for what the Body of Christ ought to be today.  And while there are certainly principles that we can derive from those early believers, I don’t sense that they were ever meant to be the prototype for the church.  As you read through the New Testament, you see that they immediately began to have many of the same kinds of problems that we have today (e.g. arguments about doctrines, rituals, & traditions; factions, sexual immorality within the church…), and more importantly, they never became the glorious bride that Jesus returns for.

All of the metaphors and analogies used in scripture point to a relationship between an initiator and a responder (e.g. a head & a body, a groom & His bride, a master & His servant).  So it follows that the model for the church must be rooted in someone who demonstrated this right relationship with God.  And though the Bible is filled with stories of people who got it right in one situation or another, there is only One character who walked this out perfectly within their lifetime.  Jesus said, ““Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:19).”  I believe this is the model for every believer, and ultimately for the “Body of Christ”.  Anything less will likely result in another structure that the Lord needs to knock down.

Jesus said that “He would build His church”, and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.  And in my years of following Him, I’ve come to believe that He means this quite literally.  Since the church that we have built in His name doesn’t seem nearly that powerful, here are some thoughts on how “He” means for it to happen.

  • He draws us to Himself – He may use people in this process, but it is ultimately a supernatural transaction between Him and the person He is reaching out to (John 6:44).
  • If we succumb to His drawing, He reveals Himself to us.  He told Peter that He would build His church on the foundation of those who’ve had the revelation of who He really is and who hear the voice of the Father (Matthew 16:18).
  • Once we’ve come to understand who He is, He then reveals to us who we were made to be.  We were never meant to simply be the by-product of our experiences and upbringing.  He had something in mind when He knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), and in scripture, this revelation of our identity is often accompanied by a name or title change (e.g. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, “the least of these” became a “Mighty Man of Valor”, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, Saul became Paul).
  • With our identities firmly rooted in what He says about us, He begins to allow us to see others through His eyes, and with His heart.  This quite naturally draws us into fellowship with other believers, and into community with those who are lost.
  • As we allow the Lord to weave our lives and ministries together, it is His Holy Spirit that orchestrates the unity (1 Corinthians 12:13), and holds everything together (Colossians 1:17).

I believe that if we miss any of these steps or attempt to accomplish these things in our own strength, we will continue to fall short of becoming the “church” that Jesus spoke of.

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Thought for the Day – Just My Imagination

October 6, 2015 by bjcorbin

Too often, what we imagine our life ought to be keeps us from embracing the fullness of what it actually is.  Likewise, what we imagine ourselves to be often stands in the way of our becoming who we were created to be.

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